Anthem Athletics rashguard is a great light weight rash guard -- if your a man. Our female review found it was still light weight, dried quickly and long enough to cover the belly in most all positions but too big in the shoulders. Melissa Davis is a purple belt under Giva Santana at Lotus Club in Irvine.

MEN’S

My boyfriend (Brazilian black belt and Lotus Club member Fernando Travessoni) reports that the men’s version of this rash guard fits great, is light weight and is very comfortable.

WOMEN’S

In keeping with the reputation of my gender (or perhaps with the increased difficulty in fitting women’s bodies with tight, thin fabric), I have a bit more to say.

PROS:

Super light-weight, breathing fabric adds very little to your weight and does not maintain much moisture on your body as some thicker rashies can do

Long torso keeps the tummy under wrap when you are in the most flattering of inverted belly fold making poses

CONS:

Suffers from the common women’s rash guard syndrome – it has that extra shoulder fabric and lack of curve hugging that tends to occur when the women’s rash guard is just a smaller version of the men’s pattern. Not nearly as bad as others I have experienced, but still not a totally flattering fit.

-[EDITORS NOTE: This is the mens small rash guard. Anthem Athletics has informed BJJ Legends that they are is working on a women's rash guard. We look forward to comparing and reviewing the new women's rashie when it comes out.]-

SUMMARY:

This is a great basic rash guard with nice fabric and a good long torso for coverage. If you are a dude it has no real downside. Its light weight and fits great and is comfortable. If you are a woman, it is still light weight and comfortable, but not completely fitted for your feminine bits or lack of masculine bits. For girls I would go a size smaller to minimize the extra shoulder and waist fabric and it should be about 90% of the way to a well fitted rashguard. Since the torso is long you won’t lose tummy coverage with a smaller size. (I am 5'6" and about 135 lbs with a very long torso and slightly larger than average shoulder width, ~34C chest. I am usually a size small in rash guards, and am wearing a size small Anthem Athletics rash guard in the photos).

Detales Gear Review: Buy Now! DETALES is a brand new athletic apparel company that makes clothing for female athletes who train and compete in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Sports bra: Medium (I am about a 34C-32D). I love this sports bra. It is super light-weight, but delivers heavy duty support. This combo of attributes is unusual and great for weigh ins when every ounce is a half a granola bar I can eat before competing! I was really impressed with how light and comfortable it felt, while still restricting motion affectively. It wicks moisture and resists getting stinky in the dirty clothes while waiting to be washed compared to my other sports bras as well. (Yes I did a dirty clothes smell test on laundry day and compared it to another very new, sweat-ified sports bra. Detales won!)

Rash Guard: Medium (I am 5'6", 135lbs, with an extra-long waist). This is my new favorite rash guard. The material is different than any other work out shirt I own, it feels very soft, but hugs like a rashguard is supposed to. It seemed on the short end for my long waist at first and I was worried it would ride up and expose my stomach while I trained, but I was wrong. It stayed put better than any of my extra-long rashies and training tops. The material is ridiculously comfortable and somehow manages not to move around while I do. The cut is also nice and the fit is flattering.

Grappling tights: Medium (I am 5'6", 135lbs, with short legs and a biggish booty and quads). I tried the black and the grey. I absolutely loved the fit. They are low rise which I find much more flattering and comfortable. The material is thin, but not see-through. I wouldn't recommend sweating heavily in the grey ones if you are wearing them by themselves (not under a gi or with shorts over), but the crotch-sweat-butterfly pattern is something basically any lighter colored work out pant has to offer, so no minus points there. The grey ones are great for under gi or with little shorts over. The black ones are my go to pants for lifting now. I really like the way they look on and despite the low rise, they don't threaten to expose any booty crack and distract me from deep squats. Feeling safe in your pants is also critical for no gi grappling, so these will be getting added to that wardrobe pile for me as well. They seem to have some pressure at points along the waist, leg openings and knees due to the stitching and I think that is what holds them in place so well. I would definitely purchase these babies. I am usually a medium or a small in work out tights and the medium was great for me, so if you are between sizes, go with the larger.

Compression shorts: Medium (I am 5'6", 135lbs, with short legs and a biggish booty and quads). These pinched in at the thighs just a bit, but since I only used them for under gi and no one could see the little fat squeeze, they were perfect. If I were going to wear them alone I would have gone a size larger for a sleeker look. As it was, unlike ALL other compression shorts, they did not ride up into a diaper g-string under my gi as I rolled. They stayed right where they were supposed to be. I especially love these for under my lighter white gis that can get a little see through after serious sweating. Most ladies have been there – smash passing with your sweaty gi butt in the air, knowing full well the sweat has made it semi-transparent and your granny panties have made their way into a less conservative arrangement... with these shorts everyone trying to sneak-a-peak can move along. Nothing to see here but some cute compression shorts that have stayed in place. These are also super light-weight and very comfortable with nice lines and details.

I had the fortune to attend the Gracie Nationals on Saturday, Gi Day. Thanks Rose Gracie for hooking BJJ Legends Magazine up with press passes to the event. Rose smart, woman that she is, ran the matches in belt order so the black belts were in and done first thing in the morning and the white belts were the last to go later that evening.

The longest match in Gracie Nationals history went to Adult Men 146-155 pound purple belts Adrian Montemayor and Michael Ledesma who rolled for 80 minutes. Ledesma victorious. Montemayors wife also had a long match, read here.

Gracie National 2013 sponsors included One Coconut water (http://www.onedrinks.com/) and Undergi (http://undergi.com/). Through generous contributions, Gracie Nationals was able to donate $300 to Child Hope International (http://childhope.org/). Child Hope International is an organization to help orphaned children in Haiti.

Congratulations to Melissa Davis on her women’s blue belt win after a long 30 minute match against Stephany Pulido. Although, it would be her last competition as blue belt, she was promoted to purple last Saturday.

Novel and well thought out was the kids “mats.” This area was two cordoned off mats where the kids could either run around (area 1) or do crafts (area 2).

Now on to the LA FitExpo. If you don’t know already the Gracie Nationals takes place inside of the Los Angeles Fitness Expo at the LA Convention Center downtown. The FitExpo is attended by tens of thousands of people into all of types of fitness. Walking around never fails to entertain.